While Jake Arrieta took the blame for Saturday’s loss to the Mets, it’s obvious the Cubs are going to need more offense to win this thing.

“The lack of contact in crucial moments really hurt us,” manager Joe Maddon said. “We had opportunities to win the first game and this game. … You talk about one-run losses and people automatically want to point at bullpens. But there are opportunities offensively in those close games to get it done also. We have to get better with contact with runners in scoring position.”

All of the Cubs' scoring on Saturday came on home runs: a two-run shot by Anthony Rizzo and a solo homer by Ben Zobrist. They had only one man in scoring position all night, when Jason Heyward advanced to second with two outs in the seventh on a wild pitch. Kris Bryant struck out to end the inning.

On Thursday the Cubs scored all three runs on homers as well: a two-run shot by Bryant in the first and a solo shot by Javier Baez in the sixth. On Friday, Bryant’s solo homer in the fourth accounted for one of their two runs in the Mets' 10-2 win.

Maddon didn’t blame plate umpire Laz Diaz for a wildly expanded strike zone, though he did have some complaints from the dugout during the game, and afterward refered to it as “amorphic.”

The Cubs entered the night ranked second in the National League in runs scored, but that’s due to their sizzling start. They need to get hot in July. The club batted .251 in June, 23rd in the majors, just behind the White Sox (.254).

They tend to get shut down by quality right-handers, which is exactly what happened to them in the NLCS last year when they were swept by the Mets.

The left-handed bats, other than Rizzo, haven’t been doing the job against right-handers. Jason Heyward is hitting .232 after an 0-for-3 performance, and Miguel Montero was at .197 after going 1-for-2.

On Sunday they’ll face the Mets best starter, right-hander Noah Syndergaard, one of manager Terry Collins candidates to start for the National League in the All-Star Game in San Diego. After Arrieta's poor outing on Saturday, Syndergaard has a chance to sneak in.

Syndergaard (8-3, 2.49 ERA) has 115 strikeouts, averaging 11 K’s per 9 innings. He reached the 100-strikeout mark in 81 1/3 innings, the fastest in team history. The last time he faced the Cubs, he beat them in Game 2 of the NLCS, striking out nine and allowing one run on three hits over 5 2/3 innings.